A pre-amp vs. booster. Same thing?

[bipedal]

Maybe a silly question, but I don't know the answer, so I throw it out there for discussion.  Any categorical differences that distinguish one from another?

Both boost a signal - my best guess is that "pre-amp" implies greater tone shaping capabilities than "booster"...

- Jay

[snoof]

Generally speaking, you are correct.  For our purposes, they are pretty much the same thing.

[Pushtone]

Maybe a silly question, but I don't know the answer, so I throw it out there for discussion.  Any categorical differences that distinguish one from another?

Both boost a signal - my best guess is that "pre-amp" implies greater tone shaping capabilities than "booster"...

- Jay

The term is used generally to mean many things, but to me the term "pre-amp" describes a device capable of amplifying a signal to line level. Or a device capable of driving a power amp to full output.

A booster, or any effect pedal is usually not capable of achieving line level.

But there are all kinds of" pre-amps"
For instance a unity gain preamp is still a preamp.
So many use the term to describe any type of low level amplifier that comes before the power amp section.

[Mark Hammer]

From one vantage point, the term "preamplifier" is applied to those circuits intended to bring a signal up to some expected level.  So, we have mic "preamps" because there is a huge gulf between normal vocal mic output levels and the anticipated level for line inputs.

In contrast, a "booster" is more or less what we think of when when referring to a circuit intended to bring the level of something up beyond expected or typical levels.  So, if I plug a voice mic into an LPB-1 and from there into a mixer, the LPB-1 is serving as a preamp.  If I were to plug a guitar into and LPB-1 and from there into the mic input on a mixer, the LPB-1 would be serving as a booster, and maybe even as an overdrive, depending on control settings.  Same amount of gain applied in both contexts, but that gain has different practical outcomes.

As for tone-shaping being a part of one but not the other, I think you are sort of onto something.  After all, phono-cartridge preamps such as one can (gasp! ) still buy at Radio Shack have only an input and output jack and an on-off switch.  At the same time, though, tone-shaping is an expected part of almost any piece of equipment intended to adapt a signal source to another piece of processing equipment that may or may not have the controls on board to compensate for whatever the booster or preamp does to the tone.

[DougH]

"preamp"- "booster"... They're just words.

No meaning whatsover in this context AFAIC...